Cleopatra eBook

Caesar, however, finally determined to set out on
his return to the capital. Leaving Cleopatra,
accordingly, a sufficient force to secure the continuance
of her power, he embarked the remainder of his forces
in his transports and galleys, and sailed away.
He took the unhappy Arsinoe with him, intending to
exhibit her as a trophy of his Egyptian victories
on his arrival at Rome.

CHAPTER VIII.

CLEOPATRA A QUEEN.

The Alexandrine war very short.—­Its extent.—­Revenues
of Egypt.—­The city repaired.—­The
library rebuilt.—­A new collection of manuscripts.—­
Luxury and splendor.—­Deterioration of Cleopatra’s
character.—­The young Ptolemy.—­Cleopatra
assassinates him.—­Career of Caesar.—­His
rapid course of conquest.—­Cleopatra determines
to go to Rome.—­Feelings of the Romans.—­Caesar’s
four triumphs.—­Nature of triumphal processions.—­Arsinoe.—­Sympathy
of the Roman people.—­Caesar overacts his
part.—­Feasts and festivals.—­Riot
and debauchery.—­Public combats.—­The
artificial lake.—­Combat upon it.—­Land
combats.—­The people shocked.—­Cleopatra’s
visit.—­Caesar’s plans for making himself
king.—­Conspiracy against Caesar.—­He
is assassinated.—­Arsinoe released.—­Calpurnia
mourns her husband’s death.—­Calpurnia
looks to Mark Antony as her protector.

The war by which Caesar reinstated Cleopatra upon
the throne was not one of very long duration.
Caesar arrived in Egypt in pursuit of Pompey about
the first of August; the war was ended and Cleopatra
established in secure possession by the end of January;
so that the conflict, violent as it was while it continued,
was very brief, the peaceful and commercial pursuits
of the Alexandrians having been interrupted by it
only for a few months.

Nor did either the war itself, or the derangements
consequent upon it, extend very far into the interior
of the country. The city of Alexandria itself
and the neighboring coasts were the chief scenes of
the contest until Mithradates arrived at Pelusium.
He, it is true, marched across the Delta, and the
final battle was fought in the interior of the country.
It was, however, after all, but a very small portion
of the Egyptian territory that was directly affected
by the war. The great mass of the people, occupying
the rich and fertile tracts which bordered the various
branches of the Nile, and the long and verdant valley
which extended so far into the heart of the continent,
knew nothing of the conflict but by vague and distant
rumors. The pursuits of the agricultural population
went on, all the time, as steadily and prosperously
as ever; so that when the conflict was ended, and Cleopatra
entered upon the quiet and peaceful possession of her
power, she found that the resources of her empire
were very little impaired.